This page begins with May 1st and takes you through May 4th - a trip to the north and lots of scenery. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Begin May 1st

&nbsp On May 1st Kazuya and I went to Kawaguchi Lake and hiked a trail which had lots of amazing violets on it. The first shot shows you either a Viola phalacrocarpa or else a Viola hirtipes - we could not be sure. The 2nd and 3rd shots are Viola variegata var. nipponica, a very rare violet. The 2nd shot is the flower and the 3rd shot shows you the leaf.

&nbsp Here are 2 more shots of Viola variegata var. nipponica - the first shot shows you the flower spur and the 2nd shot is the flower. The 3rd shot is an amazing shot of Erythronium japonicum - a trout lily. Looks like some American Indian piece of art!

&nbsp The first shot in this row shows you the type of forest we were walking through and the tiny leaves just starting to come out on the trees. The 2nd shot is a relatively rare Viola yazawana. The 3rd shot is Mt. Fuji off in the distance through the Larch trees.

&nbsp The 1st and 3rd shots are 2 more shots of Viola yazawana which clearly show the rolled up young leaves, helping one identify this species. The center shot in this row is a very happy looking Kazuya.

&nbsp Here are 3 shots of Viola orientalis along the trail which we took back to the base of the mountain. There are not many yellow violets which we get to see, so we are always very excited to see yellow ones. As you can see in the center photo, this violet has a brownish backside of the flower petals.

&nbsp Here is another photo of Mt. Fuji and then one showing the mountain which we were on earlier (Mt. Kurotake). The final shot is a Viola orientalis and a Viola grypoceras growing right beside each other. I think this shot gives a nice contrast.

&nbsp Here is the final shot of May 1st - a shot of Mt. Fuji looking through a Cherry Tree - a beautiful shot by Kazuya. The 2nd and 3rd shots were May 2nd - we hiked up to Hahanoshira Waterfall in search of a specific violet - we were too late to find it in bloom though. We found the leaves and some dried up flowers and that was all. So, here are 2 shots of the Hahanoshira Waterfall. It was quite dark here (only 7:30 AM) so we took some "long exposure" shots - the 2nd shot in this row was taken at 1/6th of a second and the 3rd shot here was taken at 1/13th of a second (both handheld using knee as monopod).

&nbsp Here are 2 more "long exposure" shots of Hahanoshira Waterfall - the first one was shot at 1/5th of a second and the 2nd one at 1/6th of a second. The 3rd shot is a great concentration of Viola rossii flowers at our next stop - Shinano-Sakai, on the way to Nagano.

&nbsp While hiking around Shinano-Sakai we found this old abandoned train line - the F.K.K. Line. A Google search was not helpful in identifying when or where it ran. Here is one of the old tunnels. The 2nd shot is a patch of Trillium sp. flowers, still at Shinano-Sakai. The 3rd shot is the final one of the day for May 2nd. This was the view from our Youth Hostel window. Nice, eh!

&nbsp On May 3rd we climbed Mt. Nyukasa (1,955 m = 6,414 ft). Well, actually we took a Gondola most of the way - here are 2 shots from our Gondola car, one looking down and one looking up. We were hoping to find a few new violets on this mountain, but we were either too early or else there are none there. Anyway, we had great scenery - snow covered peaks for virtually our entire 360 degree view from the summit. And, we also had good weather.

&nbsp On May 4th we headed for home - here is a photo of the Youth Hostel we stayed in for 2 nights at Fujimi. The next shot was taken from a Hot Spring we stopped at on our way home. WOW - what a view, eh! We had never been to a hot spring with such great views from the outdoor pools. The 3rd, and final shot of our 4 day Golden Week travels is a Wisteria we found as we hiked down the hot spring mountain back to the train station.